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Southwest Water Woes

The \"bathtub ring\" around Lake Mead on the Nevada Arizona border
The \"bathtub ring\" around Lake Mead on the Nevada Arizona border

By Brian Mann

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-609257.mp3

Las Vegas, NV – Host Intro:

All this year, NPR is presenting its series Climate Connections: reports on how people affect climate, and how that changing climate affects people. Every Friday this month, KNAU will bring you local and regional stories on the changing climate here in northern Arizona.

Overall, it seems, global warming is hitting the desert southwest harder than just about any other place in the country. We're suffering through our eighth year of drought, with little or no relief in sight. For much of its water, the southwest relies on the Colorado River to bring snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains. But snow patters are changing, and the Colorado is carrying a lot less water than it did a century ago. Brian Mann has our story.